New Mexico’s record-breaking budget of $8.5 billion was made possible by a boom in oil and gas. Despite this windfall, lawmakers refused to provide the funds needed to regulate the increased pollution caused by such booms.
The budgets of New Mexico’s two main environmental agencies, the New Mexico Environment Department and Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, both will receive modest increases from the state general fund, but they will still fall just $9 million short of what the governor and agencies requested in the. Recommendation for Executive Budget.
Both environment agencies have a growing responsibility for oversight. They are responsible for monitoring everything from food safety and pollution restrictions to reducing wildfires and addressing climate change impacts. Despite these increased duties, the proposed spending plan in fiscal year 2023 calls to NMEDs budget be nearly 5 percent less when adjusted for inflation than 2008; EMNRDs is almost 13% lower.
James Kenney, Secretary of NMED, stated that New Mexicans will not see us making the same strides in climate change as we would like. After the session, I was exhausted and frustrated.
Recent years have seen legislators refuse to use the extra cash from oil booms for environmental regulation enforcement and mitigation of the industry’s environmental impacts. New Mexico, the second-largest producer of oil, has had its problems. There are fewer field inspectors Compared to other extractive states.
This disparity is not addressed by the new budget. The Oil Conservation Division, a EMNRD office that monitors oil-and-gas activity, will be unable to hire five additional staff members. It had originally requested funding for 25 staff members, primarily to ensure compliance and remediation.
Oil and gas revenues can be a boon to New Mexico’s budget. However, an increase in production comes with a host of costs. The industry is the largest sourceindustry leaders lobby regularly against regulation and pollution control. To help defeat the law, a lobbyist for New Mexico Oil and Gas Association spent $256,500 on advertisements during the 2022 legislative session. Clean Future ActA bill was introduced that would have imposed statutory limits on greenhouse gas emission. Industries would be required to reduce their emissions 50 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. The goal is to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
They are contributing to the economy but they also profit hand over fist from publicly held goods, while externalizing our harm, Camilla Fiebelman of the Sierra Clubs Rio Grande Chapter said about oil and gas producers.
NMED and Oil Conservation Division may also face budget cuts that could impact their ability to implement regulations. Even though the number of wells to monitor grows, the agencies are still working on new rules that will increase data collection and eventually require oil and natural gas operations to reduce their emissions. The industry will report the data. Although auditability is required, it is unclear how the rules can be enforced if there are not regular inspections.
The state environment departments hoped for increased funding in the upcoming fiscal year after suffering budget cuts for more than a ten years. The recession brought about the first, modest cuts, which were made in 2009 and then increased under Gov. Susana Martinez, who cut environmental budgets by 20-30 percent. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham attempted to restore funding for the departments, but her budget suggestions have been repeatedly cut.
The latest budget shortfall is a result of the state government’s strong associations with the oil and gas industry. It also tries to address climate change. According to An analysisAccording to the New Mexico Tax Research Institute tax revenue from oil and gas industries accounted for 33 percent of the state’s revenue in the most recent fiscal year. The group’s reports show that oil and gas funds have been increasingly dependent in recent years.Trend that started more than a decade agoAfter modifications to the tax structure.
Adrienne Sandoval is the director of the Oil Conservation Division. She said that the office will do its very best to manage the increased workloads despite having 20 less staff than required. We’ve reorganized the division to help us get the most efficiency out of the staff that we do have, she said.
Kenney and Sandoval both stated that they are open to using new technology to fill the staff shortages. Remote monitoring and online reports can allow agencies to do more with fewer resources. Technology can’t fix everything.
Kenney stated that his agency sometimes has difficulty equipping staff with computers. His agency has closed down field offices in the past due to inability of staffing them. He has also cancelled field work in remote parts because of inability to pay for a stay in a hotel.
Kenney stated that the budget has a permanent impact on our ability and capacity to hold polluters accountable. Because we cannot protect all New Mexico communities with our budget, there is inequity.